1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a monitoring system that monitors a system by collecting information from the system and displaying collected information in desired form, and in particular to an information retrieval method and apparatus which can retrieve information related to a desired information item in a desired form.
2. Description of the Related Art
There have proposed several supporting systems to allow easy operability of a monitor system for monitoring a plant.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 4-204492 discloses a monitor-supporting system which has a function of displaying an alert item related to a desired alert item which is selected by an operator""s touch action.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 10-27015 discloses a status data retrieval system which collects operation data from the plant and retrievably stores it onto a database, from which status data can be retrieved according to a desired condition. This allows current and past operation data to be easily displayed, resulting in reduced burden on an operator and effective troubleshooting
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 10-111712 discloses an alert monitor which collects plant data and determines from the plant data whether a fault occurs in the plant. If a fault occurs, the operation history of the fault item is retrievably stored. Therefore, when the same fault occurs, its operation history can be displayed on a monitor screen, allowing rapid and effective restoration.
However, the above prior art Systems cannot provide the alert occurrence/restoration history of a device in which a fault occurs or is restored Further, it cannot be easily determined which one of two stations causes the occurrence of a fault on a cable connecting them. Furthermore, it cannot be easily determined how the operation state of a device in the system has been changed.
In addition, none of the above prior art systems provide a monitor-supporting system for use in a transmission cable system. For example, in the case of a monitor for a submarine cable system composed of submarine cables, repeaters, branching units, and joint boxes, it cannot be easily determined which one of two stations causes the occurrence of a fault on a cable connecting them. Further, it cannot be easily determined how the operation state of a device in the submarine cable system has been changed.
An object of the present invention is to provide a retrieval method and apparatus which can achieve easy and reliable management of a system.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a retrieval method and apparatus which can easily obtain useful information for system monitoring and management
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a retrieval method and apparatus which allows effective operation and management of a transmission line system.
According to the present invention, a method for retrieving information related to a desired item from a database storing information which are collected from a system to be monitored, comprising the steps of:
displaying a plurality of states of the system in time sequence on screen of a display, wherein each of the states in represented by a plurality of items of collected information;
inputting a desired item of a state selected from the states displayed on the screen;
retrieving a state of the system from the database based on the desired item; and displaying a retrieved state on the screen.
Each of the states may be represented by kind of alert, type of device, and one of alert occurrence and restoration, wherein, when one of the alert occurrence and restoration is inputted as the desired item, another state having same kind of alert and same type of device as a selected state is retrieved from the database.
The system to be monitored may be a transmission system composed of two stations and a transmission line connecting the stations, wherein the database stores an alert information correspondence table between one station and the other station.
Each of the states may be represented by kind of alert including one of transmission error and reception error, type of device, one of the stations, and one of alert occurrence and restoration, wherein when one station in which one of the transmission error and the reception error occurs is inputted as the desired item, another state having the other of the transmission error and the reception error occurring in the other station is retrieved from the database by referring to the alert information correspondence table.
Each of the states may be represented by type of device, status before change, and status after change, wherein, when a status change is inputted as the desired item, another state having same type of device and some status change as a selected state is retrieved from the database.
The system may be a submarine cable system composed of at least one submarine cable, submarine repeater, submarine branching unit, and joint box.
According to anther aspect of the present invention, a method for retrieving information related to a desired item from a database storing information about a submarine cable system composed of at least one submarine cable, submarine repeater, submarine branching unit, and joint box, comprising the steps of:
displaying a current state of the submarine cable system on screen of a display, wherein the current state is represented by collected information from the submarine cable system;
designating a component of the submarine cable system displayed on the screen;
retrieving information related to the designated component from the database; and
displaying retrieved information on the screen.
The designated component may be a component which encounters abnormal conditions. The component which encounters abnormal conditions is preferably displayed in a different way to indicate occurrence of cable cutting.